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Women take the wheel for apps like Uber’s Middle East rival Careem, reflecting kingdom’s social change and push for economic diversity

Saudi Arabia’s first female professional drivers have taken to the road following a lifting of the kingdom’s driving ban for women. The WSJ caught a ride with one such driver to discuss what the change means. Photo: Iman Al-Dabbagh for The Wall Street Journal

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia—The first female driver for Uber’s Middle East rival here is helping to set a new course for women integrating into the kingdom’s workforce now that they are allowed to take the wheel.

“I’ve just arrived, where are you exactly?” Ammal Farhat, a 45-year-old divorced mother of two young children, said into her phone as she drove up in her sport-utility vehicle to one of Jeddah’s popular shopping malls. “It’s my first mall pickup,” she said while adjusting her GPS.